A Portuguese Piano (2024)
A Portuguese Piano is a recital that showcases the richness of music by several Portuguese composers for the piano.
The program features some of the most well-known works, including Vianna da Motta's Balada and António Fragoso's Nocturno, as well as other rarely performed pieces like Artur Santos' Sonata and Alfredo Napoleão's Rondo.
This recital provides an opportunity to discover and appreciate some of the most beautiful pages in Portuguese music, a part of a legacy that Marta Menezes is proud to keep aliveas she believes it is an integral part of her country's cultural heritage.
(for more information, click here)
Bagatelles
Bagatelles is a newsletter that I created with the aim of sharing interesting insights about music and art that have inspired and keep inspiring me along the way. These include interviews, articles, recordings, books, documentaries, or anything else that has challenged my perception, imagination, or curiosity in some way. My intention is to encourage reflection on specific topics or aspects of a musician's life.
It is released twice a month and is mainly directed towards advanced music students, although anyone is welcome to join. You can subscribe it here.
Saint-Saëns e Oswald - A reencounter (2021)
Je suis enchanté. C'est une œuvre de maître et surtout très personnelle. Vous êtes un artiste, monsieur.
These were Saint-Saëns' words when he heard Henrique Oswald's Piano Quartet for the first time in São Paulo with the composer himself at the piano. During Saint-Saëns' trip to Brazil, they both played together on a two-piano setting, an experience that they repeated a few years later.
This program proposes a reunion between these two pianists and composers, marking the 100th anniversary of Saint-Saëns' death and the 90th of Oswald's, in a rare opportunity to hear in the same concert significant works from the composers' chamber music repertoire.
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5 Encores for Beethoven (2020)
The project 5 Encores for Beethoven was created to celebrate the composer's 250th birthday, establishing a bridge with our days and with music by Portuguese composers.
In 2020 and 2021, Marta Menezes performed the 5 Piano concertos by Beethoven and did the world premiere of 5 Encores (one for each concerto) commissioned to Nuno da Rocha, Tiago Cabrita, Luís Soldado, Gonçalo Gato, and Tiago Derriça, specifically for this celebration.
The concerts took place in Viana do Castelo, Lisboa, Torres Novas, Tomar, Coimbra, Caldas da Rainha, Arganil, Mealhada, Alcanena and Palmela.
The scores are available here.
(Endorsed by radio Antena 2. Funded by crowdfunding)
Tribute to Vianna da Motta (2018)
On the occasion of Vianna da Motta’s 150th birthday, Marta Menezes presents a recital as a tribute to one of the figures that most influenced pianism in Portugal. As one of Franz Liszt’s last pupils, Vianna da Motta had contact with the great artists of his time during the years he spent living in Germany. Throughout his life, he performed extensively around the world. Apart from being a great pianist, he was also a composer, a pedagogue, a music critic and the author of several articles about piano technique and musical interpretation.
On this recital, Marta Menezes will perform works by composers that frequently appeared on his recital programs and with which he was associated as being a great interpreter: Beethoven, Chopin and Liszt. The program also includes 2 works by Vianna da Motta.
(endorsed by radio Antena 2 and AVA Musical Editions) More info here
Das Terras d'Além-mar (2017)
"My homeland is the Portuguese language", wrote Fernando Pessoa. This idea is the starting point of this recital, which takes the listener on a journey through poets and musicians from Portugal and Brazil, from different periods, different cities, different cultures, but who share the richness that is their same language.
Brazilian baritone Bruno Sandes and Portuguese pianist Marta Menezes, presented this program on a tour of Portugal, sharing their common heritage, and taking the art, history and tradition of their two countries overseas.
The program included works by Portuguese and Brazilian composers, and a new cycle written Portuguese composer Tiago Derriça, commissioned and premiered by the duo.
(Photo Jorge Carmona - Antena 2)
Duo Pianíssimo - Portuguese music for two pianos and four-hands (2013)
The Duo Pianíssimo was created by Inês Andrade and Marta Menezes to promote Portuguese chamber music written for this kind of ensemble. Through a thorough research they discovered a huge quality and rich variety of works that were mostly unknown. Some of them were only played at their première and don't have a performance history. Others were just recently edited.
The duo captured the attention of some contemporary composers, that have composed and dedicated works to Inês and Marta: the Sonatina for two pianos, by Sérgio Azevedo, and Do outro lado do espelho by Tiago Cabrita.
Duo Pianíssimo performed in Switzerland, Cape Vert, and Portugal.
